She said
I’ve been in my head, she said
when I’ve needed to be in my body.
Photo Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@yp8135
Musing
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The Ping Pong Match – A Study In Neurohacking
I’ve been reading a lot of consciousness bending related books lately. It’s a topic that I adore—seeing how malleable the fabric of reality is and seeing how far I might be able to bend my abilities (and improve my life) based on mind-tricks, magic, and believing that I can.
I’m open to exploring, experimenting, and noting what is miraculous and what is cool and going on from there. I mean, I really don’t have anything better to do with my spare time, right? As long as I’m not hurting or manipulating anyone—perhaps changing what happens for and around the people in my life, in relation to my life—always for the best, or that’s my intention, anyway.
I’ve been quite successful in the past with manifesting this and that, including a pure-bred beagle puppy (who taught me to watch out what I wished for), 12 hundred bucks, and some other more personal signs from the Universe.
There are a LOT of good magic and law of attraction books out there that I’ve read. You can find a partial list here: The 5 Best Law Of Attraction Books
Over the Christmas holiday, I was reading Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself, written by Joe Dispenza and I was also listening to his audiobook, Becoming Supernatural, in tandem with reading the book. Basically, his books teach about shifting your reality and connecting yourself to Source energy in order to create miracles in your life by connecting with the subconscious and harnessing the power of intention, possibility, and now. It’s all good stuff.
I had the perfect opportunity to test out some of the theories that I was learning because my in-laws bought a ping pong table and playing ping pong was a central part of what we were focused on during our Christmas holiday. If we weren’t eating, talking, or chilling during the week of Christmas, we were playing ping pong or watching a match.
I’ve never played ping pong in my life that I can remember; I am a total novice. Recently, I started taking tennis lessons, but tennis is a different sport and, while ping pong and tennis are similar, they just aren’t the same. As I said, I was a noob.
My hubby, my father-in-law, and my brother-in-law had practiced during our summer vacation because the hotels we stayed in had ping pong tables. I hiked and snorkeled. While their games were fiercely competitive and laced with male energy, mine was more exploring, experimenting, and just trying to do my best.
So coming into these games with various family members, I was looking like a baby—just having fun and returning what balls I could. My volleys weren’t long for sure. For me, it was more about having a good time with my family while we celebrated Christmas together.
I was all nonchalant about my game until I got paired up with my hubby for a match. Then it was time to up my game and give him a run for his money. I’m proud to say that after the game, you might have thought that I was something of a ping pong shark, feigning lack of skill until the money was down on the table and then pulling out my mad expert skills. (Maybe that’s the ego-inflated version.)
My skills were temporary and completely mentally driven, though. My thinking brain convinced my body that it could play a mean game of ping pong, and so it did.
Just like in the books I was reading, just like in others I’ve read before, I played out my game with my hubby in my head. I imagined I knew what I was doing. I let my understanding of hitting the ball soft or hard and holding the paddle at different angles to hit the ball in different directions on the table tell my body what to do. I ended up running my husband ragged on his side of the table while I handled the balls he hit to me more easily than I expected. He beat me, but not by much. Our games were exciting!
It was fun for me to put what I was learning into practice—maybe more fun than seeing my husband work for his wins!
So, why the increased ability to play ping pong, or the spike in my skill level? As I said, it was my thinking mind or intentions believing that I could and intellectualizing the game, then trusting my body to be able to do what my mind envisioned. Maybe I should have gone as far as imagining that I won, but I was happy with doing as well as I did.
In Joe Dispenza’s book, he looks at the study that measured muscle strength increases in people who only imagine doing exercises, or comparisons in improvement and muscle function after a person merely practices a piano exercise in his or her mind. It’s scientifically sound research with a control group, a group that practices the exercises in real life, and then the experimental group. It shows circa 10-15% improvement in those who only think about flexing muscles. The piano playing group also has a high percentage of practice related muscle and skill changes—I forget the actual percentage.
Ultimately, it made me even more aware of the fact that I could use my mind to surprisingly improve my life (skills, comprehension, ability to do things I normally couldn’t do). I’ll keep experimenting with neurohacking life and pushing the proverbial envelope further and further to see what I am capable of doing.
I hope you do the same.
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Gratitude For 2018
Don’t forget to be thankful for what you have now before you make your big plans for there and then. Your power is in this moment. Be grateful for it. It’s easy to stand at the gates of the New Year with your focus on what’s coming instead of what you’ve been through. Especially, for many of us, after 2018.
It was one heck of a year, that’s for sure. With all of the energy of the Kavanaugh thing bringing up repressed, stuffed down, frantic and wounded energy (#metoo), to the instability of the very foundations of what we’ve taken for granted in terms of economic and political… peace.This year threw me off center and forced me to examine how my actions and habits have taken me somewhere I don’t want to be—but I know that and I am making changes. Those changes will be more obvious in the coming year. For now, I’ll return to my center and work from there.
And right now, I want to sit in gratitude in the moment I am in. 11:05 am on Saturday, the 29th of December, 2018. I have a LOT to be thankful for.This list is not at all complete. In fact, it’s quite simple. But it is an acknowledgment to the Universe of the things in life that I truly value, the things that make me smile, the things that I am glad I learned.
I encourage you to sit in the moment and make your own Gratitude List for 2018 before rushing off into 2019. As you know, the power is in NOW, not the future; always remember that.So, what am I grateful for?
1) My little family. The one in my house and my daughter who is on her own now. These four human souls and two doggie souls are the core of my existence. They are my reason. They teach me so much about love, acceptance, patience, redemption, and evolution. They enrich my life and I am thankful for them.2) Me (with a capital M). I am grateful for myself, the life I have been given, the journey and the mission. I am grateful for my body—that I can move freely, that I am healthy, that I am curious and bright. I love who I am, who I am becoming. I have to remember to honor myself more and really CENTER in myself because that’s where the magic is. It’s in me. In my energy and my life.
3) Friends & Extended Family. There are too many to name or call out individually. I have been gifted a cast of wonderfully delightful, soulful, honest, divine souls to share my time with. I am grateful for each and every one of you and hope that we have more time to spend together in the future. (P.S. Florida, February 2020).
4) Spirit & Magic. This one is HUGE for me. I am grateful for all that I’ve learned, where it has taken me, and the wonders it’s opened up for me. Every day is a profound experience. I’m thankful that the Universe has nudged me to pay attention to the little things, the messages it sends, and the directions it gives.
5) Stability. Another huge one. Seriously. We have a home that we’ve lived in for the past 12 years. We have food. I can usually pay my bills without issues. That stability gives me the space to explore my world a little more. The kite that is my Spirit is firmly anchored to the ground. I don’t have to worry (so much) about the ground beneath my feet crumbling.
6) Learning experiences. This year, I didn’t honor my time and energy as much as I should have, and it resulted in me being overwhelmed. I’m actually grateful for coming to a full stop because it really made me look at and evaluate my life and the decisions I was making. I had to come back into my center and I also learned that I had to honor my worth or no one else would—and that was a blessing.
I’m going to leave it at that. I could write about how thankful I am for the sun shining, for the trips we took, for belly laughs, for art, for sensuality and even orgasms. But I’d like to move on with my day. My boys are laughing and playing and I want to enjoy the life that is going on around me.
I hope that you can find a moment to be grateful for what happened in 2018 before you slide into 2019. As they say in Austria, Guten Rutsch!
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New Moon In Aries – Get Ready To Create Change
I’m always fascinated to see/feel how the energy of the moon cycle and the sign it shifts in has such a direct and subconscious impact on my life.
For example, today is the New Moon in Aries. The moon turned new at about 1 am UTC, and so the energy of the moon and its transition started to intensify, for me anyway, about 3 days ago.
I should have known something was amiss, as I got a little agitated. Uncomfortable. Ready for a nice, big shift to happen.
My go-to for information about the moon cycles and what I might feel is the Mystic Mama blog. I’ve used it as a resource time and time again and have not been let down.
This month, with the New Moon in Aries, we are being called to embrace that which we desire and actively work to create it in our lives. This is going to require complete honesty, letting go of what isn’t serving us (to create space for what will), and really, to get assertive and actively go out and pursue what we want.
For many spiritual entrepreneurs like myself, the masculine feeling of this energy can be a little daunting or intimidating. I’m a flow kind of gal – but, I guess the Mars in me (as a Scorpio) is pretty comfortable in the active, assertive, organized, and strategic planning.
And I was sooo inspired by Patricia Liles’s words from her write-up on the Power Path:
On April 17, Chiron moves into fiery, courageous, Aries for the next seven years. That’s a major shift point. We will truly embrace how we create our own reality and may it be magnificent and full of energy, vitality and protective instinct. Aries, as the masculine first sign and ruled by Mars, encompasses both our vital, emergence into individual selfhood and the mantle of the divine Warrior, champion and protector of all that is sacred and worth defending. Chiron will take us on the journey of healing our masculine selves and teaching us right use of the medicine of fire, desire and will in consort and balance with the feminine.
I see Lenny (from Laverne and Shirley) biting his knuckle when I see this. There is so much YES here!
So, my dear. You are being challenged to put the Law Of Attraction into play here and start working your reality to make your life what you want it to be. So. Inspirational.
Right now, I would highly recommend doing work that is designed to BUILD OR GROW. As the moon will be growing, you want to name your mission for growth in this moon cycle. Lay the foundations for yourself. Polish your message. Start working on the ground floor. Build a stable structure.
What will you be working on growing for yourself during this moon cycle? What do you need to DO in order to make it happen or create the reality you’d like to have. Feel free to share in the comments below.
And don’t forget to leave a little bit of YES energy here and/or blessings to help us all achieve our goals!
Blessings to you!
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Imbolc Celebration – My First Time
http://giphy.com/gifs/ein-123FCF18IX9TrO
I don’t know if it is the fact that I am older or the fact that I am really working on grounding and becoming more connected to the Earth, but I FEEL the changes and intuit the meanings behind the holidays that are celebrated in the Pagan community.
For example, this year I allowed myself to somewhat hibernate during the winter. I didn’t have the same expectations for myself to always be doing and creating and moving forward. I took the time to just rest (mostly, if
an entrepreneuranyone with 3 kids and a dog can really rest).It helped, too – at least it seemed to! I actually enjoyed going out with my boys in the cold. I dragged them around on their sleds and had a blast with them, watching them WHOOSH down the little hill at the edge of our village.
And I don’t know if it was my plans for a trip to Florida that made this winter somewhat tolerable for me. I have some sunshine to look forward to – warm days and beaches. That might have helped to buoy my mood.
Either way, I’ve felt a stirring in the last few days – a sense that I wanted to start DOing again. That I was done with BEing and with the rest. It was like I was ready to wake up after my winter slumber.
Then I read about Imbolc, which is today! Imbolc is a Gaelic/Celtic holiday dedicated to the Goddess Brigid and the return of the Sun. It’s midpoint in the Winter, which means that warm weather is on its way. (Read more about it here: Imbolc) It’s when the seeds start feeling a little bit like rousing from their slumber deep in the Earth. When the plants and trees start to get buds, when the tulips and schneeglocken start to blossom.
Basically put, Imbolc is “It is the day that we celebrate the passing of Winter and make way for Spring.” Gods and Goddesses know that I am ready for that!
As my practice and connection to the Earth is growing now, I am going to celebrate this holiday in a traditional way. I’ll get a red candle, a white candle, and an orange candle. I’ll adorn my altar in the appropriate colors (red, white, orange), and also put some white flowers out. I’ll use cinnamon and frankincense (rosemary and myrrh are also mentioned in the article and can be used), and I will get some freshly fallen snow to use in my ritual. I’ll give thanks for feeling good over this winter. I’ll give thanks for the freshly fallen snow, for the opportunity to rest and enjoy the winter with my children. I’ll ask for blessings of fertility and abundance in the coming year. I’ll thank the Gods and Goddesses for all that has been and all that will be. And I will deepen my bond with the energy of the Earth, the seasons, the Wheel of the Year.
Blessed be.
Do you celebrate Imbolc? Feel free to share any rituals or even blog posts that you have written or read about the subject in the comments below!
